Wool on Wolves have released a video for their new song “Midnight Avenue.” It’s ahead of their sophomore album Measures of Progress, out on November 13th.Directed by aAron Munson, the video was filmed in Edmonton with a lot of help from the community, AND sparklers.

So the other Thursday I missed the Collective West play at the Artery, and this left me pretty sad because not only are they nice people who put on a fun show, but their new music proves Darwin was right about that theory of evolution thing, and, if you really think about it, them growing as a band actually serves as a microcosm for the Edmonton music community, so even though I was chapped I didn’t catch their gig I knew I could redeem myself the upcoming weekend and to get things going I got on the LRT Friday evening and hopped off at Culture Days downtown in time to catch everyone talking about how good Mad Bomber Society’s set was and then I ran into a bunch of my friends and we danced to Shout Out Out Out Out as they played new music, did impossibly high high-kicks, and had folks like Cadence Weapon join them on stage for a free show in beautiful autumn weather that anyone could come to, including the mayor who drifted through the crowd right past me, but after the show people wandered off and my friend Gord from Wool on Wolves, (get ready for their rad new album in November by the way),ran into me and we decided it was a good idea to head across the river, pick up his bandmate Eric, and go to the community hall in Bonnie Doon where CJSR was hosting a Fundrive show so they could stay on the air, which us and a lot of other people thought was a great idea, including the host of the show, the guy from the girl-guy combo who make up the Awesomehots, who introduced the Uncas, who put on a fiercely amazing show, including a song that included playing the guitar with a skil-saw, and after that Scenic Route to Alaska went on stage and were joined by Lyra Brown and somehow by joining forces they’ve created something that is incredible and gives the audience the chills and has to last, but they played pretty late so afterwards it was time to go home and I didn’t see anymore music until Saturday evening when Tyler Butler took the stage at the Elevation room at another CJSR Fundrive show and somehow his music can make me feel like I’m back in the deep south of the United States even though he’s never been there, and I knew it’d been worth it to catch his set even though my girlfriend and I had to hike across the river right after he was done and go to the New City Legion because Ben Disaster, and then Mike McDonald, and then Joey Keithley played acoustic punk for everyone lucky enough to be there, but once again things went late and when they were done it was time to go home. Good thing too, because I was running out of breath.

A few months ago, I was sitting with my friend Tom in the Garneau Pub. He was just about to leave for a trip around India with his wife, and we were having a few bon voyage beers. Tom’s also the singer from the Edmonton band Wool on Wolves, and we’d just listened to the unmastered tracks from their new album. We were talking about the new songs, and how I was going to write about them on my blog.

I told him some ideas I had for the article, but he cut me off.

“Write what you want,” he said.

I immediately had an Almost Famous flashback. Even though, of course, I wasn’t a writer for Rolling Stone, and he wasn’t from a band that would ever be excited to fly in a private airplane. Still, I thought it was funny that we’d ended up vaguely mirroring a scene from one of our favorite movies, and I thought, how the heck did we end up here?

Tom and I became friends in our first year of college in Red Deer, in part because we had a ton of mutual friends, and, more importantly, because we both had shirts with the words “Led Zeppelin.” His love for music was always on his sleeve, and so was his love for his friends. This was always made clear simply by what he said to people. His words had a big impact on me. This is still the same today.

The thing about Tom, you see, is that his words reflect his character, his warmth, and his inability to be insincere. And when he told me to write whatever I wanted on my blog, he wasn’t trying to reference a movie. Tom just wanted me to be honest.

And that’s what he does with his lyrics. To top that off, Tom somehow found four friends who share his uncommon trait to always be genuine – and so Wool on Wolves is a band that embodies authenticity in an increasingly superficial world. They could have been a hip-hop group, a punk band, a jazz ensemble, or a throwback to Stillwater from Almost Famous, but the honesty of their songs would still be shining through.

But Wool on Wolves isn’t a band that fits into those categories, if you believe in things like genres. What they are though, is the band playing on Stage 2 at The Edmonton Folk Fest tonight at 8:00. So come hear Tom’s sincerity, and the passion of Wool on Wolves, for yourself.

Everybody is rushing to Toronto’s North by Northeast Festivals and Conference this week. Almost 800 bands are performing at all the great venues around the CN Tower. Sure, there will be lots of musicians from the GTA, but there’s also talented folks from all over the world hitting the stages. Edmonton is no exception. Here’s a preview of the 4 acts headed out east from the North by Northwest.

This surf rock, reggae and roots festival isn’t just bringing in top performers from across the world, but they’ve also enlisted a crack team of local musicians to hit the stage. This A-Team of Edmonton talent will fit right in with the big names from out of town. Here’s a preview: